Critical Discourse Analysis On Cultural Representation In Senior High School English Textbooks Published By PEP

Since the reform and opening-up,English education in China has undergone several reforms,and the compilation and application of textbooks have changed with the development of educational theories.As the main resource of language learning,textbooks are the most important tool for learners to gain foreign culture and knowledge.And the content,form,and attitude of cultural representation in textbooks will subtly influence students’ attitude and recognition of different cultures.By examining the cultural representations and their diachronic changes in high school English textbooks since the reform and opening-up,this thesis applies the threedimensional framework(i.e.,text,discursive practice,and social practice)in CDA to analyze the content,form,and attitude of cultural representation in the four editions of high school English textbooks respectively published by PEP in 1986,1996,2007,and2019.To sort out the development of culture representation in English textbooks in China and make suggestions for further teaching and compilation,this thesis is undertaken to address the following three research questions:(1)What are the distributional patterns of cultural representation in the four editions of high school English textbooks?(2)What are the diachronic changes in cultural representation in the textbooks?(3)How does the social context influence the cultural representation in the textbooks? The analysis of this study is followed by the three-dimensional framework,which analyzes discourse into three levels,including text,discursive practice,and social practice.The text will be described from the lexical level and textual level.At the lexical level,the categories and distribution of culturally-loaded words are examined;at the textual level,the content of cultural representation are further discussed,and the form of culture represented in the reading passages are scrutinized.As for the discursive practice,the syllabi/curriculum standards and their relationship with textbooks are analyzed.As for the social practice,social conditions and their effect on education are addressed.Through the three-dimensional analysis,the following findings are concluded:SEFC(1986)mainly represented the Western culture and had a strong political orientation and ideology.The reading passages in SEFC(1986)were mostly selected from original Western novels and stories,and the passages are mainly contextualized in the Great Depression and World War Ⅱ.SEFC(1996)focused on the comparison between the Western and Chinese cultures of geography,lifestyle,value,etc.,emphasizing the differences between cultures.However,this edition failed to express a tolerant attitude toward different cultures and lacked a proper understanding of the target language culture.NSEFC(2007)reduced the units and introduced the topics to construct the knowledge and culture in the textbooks.As for the content of culture,the main focus was on the target language culture.The form of cultural representation was more diverse and the genre of reading passages was increased.NSEFC(2019)showed a diverse and tolerant attitude toward different cultures.The amount and categories of Chinese culture increased drastically.The topics of the textbooks were closer to students’ life and integrated the content of modern technology with traditional culture.In the diachronic view,every textbook has its different characteristics of times.In the content of cultural representation,the Chinese culture in textbooks is increasing edition by edition,as well as the other culture.Furthermore,the categories of culture are increasing and show their diversity.The form of cultural representation is also developed in a diverting way.It is transformed from general and implicit expressions to specific and explicit expressions.The form of presentation of culture is changed from the initial introduction of culture in one passage to the comparison of two different cultures,and then to the subtle integration of different cultures in one passage.As for the attitude toward cultural representation,China’s cultural construction has experienced the development from lack of selfconfidence,to holding cultural awareness,finally to cultural self-confidence.The demands of social conditions on education are reflected by the syllabi/curriculum standards.The attitude of the syllabi/curriculum standards has changed from focusing only on the target language culture,to consciously comparing the differences between Chinese culture and Western culture,and then emphasizing the integration between different cultures,paying attention to the promotion and expression of Chinese culture while learning the target language.Based on the analysis and comparison of the four editions of high school English textbooks,some suggestions are proposed for future compilation and application of textbooks,culture teaching,and research on textbook analysis.